The Surprising Truth About Jackie Chan's Parents

Jackie Chan is a notoriously bubbly and friendly person, but he definitely has a somewhat checkered past. For example, did you know that once, before becoming a global superstar, he acted in a pornographic video? According to China Daily, he acted in a dirty flick made in Hong Kong in 1975 called "All in the Family" alongside a porn star who was famous at the time. But why did he do it? Did they need a special someone for a particularly acrobatic scene? Not exactly. It was more a matter of necessity. "I had to do anything I could to make a living ...," Jackie said, "but I don't think it's a big deal, even Marlon Brando used to be exposed in his movies." He added that porn flicks were much tamer back then, as well.

But that isn't the only seedy detail from Jackie Chan's past. You'll probably be surprised to hear about his armed standoff with a notorious gang in Hong Kong, which got him into a bit of hot water with the police there. And what he would learn about his mom and dad as an adult would only add more heartbreak to his life's story. Let's take a look into the actors young life and try to get the truth about Jackie Chan's parents.

According to Mental Floss, Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954, and his parents left him there while they went abroad to find jobs when he was only 7. While they worked at the American Embassy in Australia, he stayed at a boarding school, where he trained in martial and performance arts. Even though he grew up without his parents, he went on to become the high-kicking, building-jumping, comedic badass we all know and love today.

However, the story of Jackie Chan's parents is actually much more intriguing than what it appeared to be for most of his life. As The Guardian reports, a documentary filmed in 2003 — but never released, neither in China or the United States — followed Jackie as he met his estranged father and learned more about their early lives. Despite her outward appearance as a normal housewife, his mother had been involved in Hong Kong's underworld, a gambler and opium smuggler. His father had been a gang boss and a Nationalist spy during Communist Revolution of Mao Zedong in the 1940s. As of the publication of that article in The Guardian, Jackie had not even been able to sit through the entire film, due to the painful memories it brought up, both of his personal history and that of his home country's.